Forsta AP Fonden Cuts Stake in Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH)

Forsta AP Fonden lowered its stake in shares of Bio-Techne Co. (NASDAQ:TECH) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,800 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock after selling 1,800 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Bio-Techne were worth $2,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in Bio-Techne by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,080 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Bio-Techne by 46.4% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 530 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Bio-Techne by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 8,394 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in Bio-Techne by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,223 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Bio-Techne by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 763 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.95% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Stock Performance

Bio-Techne stock opened at $73.55 on Friday. Bio-Techne Co. has a 1-year low of $61.16 and a 1-year high of $85.57. The company’s 50-day moving average is $74.72 and its 200 day moving average is $74.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 4.56 and a quick ratio of 3.26.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The biotechnology company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $289.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $280.22 million. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 12.76% and a net margin of 12.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Bio-Techne Co. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on TECH. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Bio-Techne from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Bio-Techne from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Bio-Techne has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.00.

Insider Transactions at Bio-Techne

In other news, CEO Kim Kelderman sold 13,392 shares of Bio-Techne stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.29, for a total transaction of $1,035,067.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 39,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,014,619.16. The trade was a 25.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.90% of the company’s stock.

Bio-Techne Profile

Bio-Techne Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and sells life science reagents, instruments, and services for the research and clinical diagnostic markets in the United States, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Greater China, rest of Asia-Pacific, and internationally.